I don’t know if its because it’s the second movie, or because of the GREs (which I took yesterday!) but I somehow forgot this movie was coming out. When the first film came out, Alison Lee and I had only started this blog a few months prior and we went Hunger Games crazy. You would have seriously thought we were writing a Hunger games themed blog, and I think part of that was that we were so excited, and we didn’t know what the blog was about yet, and we were so excited just to be excited about something post college and be able to connect with each other and other fans about our excitement. It was the first thing that brought readers besides our parents to the blog, and the first time I branched out and started reading other book blogs. Which is a really long way to say, I can’t believe I kind of dropped the ball on talking about this movie. However, when my sister texted me that she’d won tickets to go last night, I decided getting up early this morning would be the best way to celebrate taking my GRE’s yesterday and be able to get a blog post in during the day. So I woke up, twisted my hair into a Katniss braid (obviously), went to the theater … but then totally dropped the ball again on writing my review.
So because I have a box of pasta calling my name to get boiled I’m going to be brief. THIS MOVIE WAS SO GOOD THAT I FORGOT ABOUT WRITING THE REVIEW. Seriously, I went for a two hour walk and spent most of the time just thinking about it. I talked to my mom about it for over forty-five minutes. I can barely organize my thoughts on it, and that is probably a good thing because I don’t want to put any spoilers in.
I’m just so happy to see such a quality film made that is so faithful to the book. Jennifer Lawrence was flawless (as always). She is so good at making you root for Katniss while understanding she’s not a likable person. Woody Harleson as Haymitch and Stanley Tucci as Caesar, where again my two favorite characters. I also thought Jena Malone as Johanna was as perfect of a portrayal as anyone could have asked for. I don’t think I will be the only one leaving the theater thinking – I can’t believe that was the little girl in “Step Mom”. The setting of the Capital is marvelous again, as well. They are so over the top, but also so good at creating pointed criticism of our own society.
If I had to pick a part of the movie to criticize, I would say that I thought the love triangle was a bit underdeveloped and suffered from the viewers inability to see Katniss’s internal thoughts during her interactions with both boys. However, there is such a tendency to overplay the romance that this didn’t really bother me. I just wonder if I hadn’t read this book if I’d have understood what was going on between the three of them.
Ending there, I’m going to go boil my pasta. But please if you see the film, let me know your thoughts. I’m still looking for people to chat about it with.
Alison Doherty 
Congratulations on sailing through your GRE! Now load those carbs and race on to win NaNoWriMo!
Thanks Indra! I’m more than a bit behind, but I’m going to write as much as I can this weekend to try and get back on track!
Oh my god. I’m about 7 hours from seeing this movie (at a classy dine-in movie theater, too, because I’m a grown up now I guess), and I am literally counting the minutes. When the first movie came out, we went to the midnight premier. No idea how my friends managed to convince me to wait two days because I am pretty much dying to see it.
I’m so glad to hear a fellow fan of the books be so pleased with the movie! And actually, I’m kind of glad to hear they underplayed the love triangle. I was so worried they’d way overblow it and lose the whole social message of the movie. But then again, even if they did overplay the love triangle, I’m pretty sure Jennifer Lawrence would still make it work because she’s perfect in every way. Ahh now I’m even more excited! I’ll let you know what I thought of it tomorrow!
Congrats on being done with the GRE! Wasn’t walking out of there after completing it just the best feeling ever?
So many things to respond to.
1.) Hunger Games at class dinner movie theater sounds so amazing and grown up.
2.) Yeah, I am happier with the love triangle thing being underplayed as opposed to over played. I mean I’m excited to see what other people think though.
3.) Jennifer Lawrence is perfect.
4.) Leaving the GRE was the best. I had a huge smile on my face. It is the best waking up and not studying math and vocab all day. I just can’t believe I don’t have to do that again.
5.) Let me know what you think of the movie, if you get a chance.
6.) Enjoy!
(Hope the GRE went well!) Glad to hear the movie was fabulous, I’m planning on going over Thanksgiving so I can make an event of it. Can’t wait!
Thanks, GRE went really well! Can’t wait to see what you think of the film. So far I’ve only been hearing good things from other people, so I think it wasn’t just me that liked it!
Congrats on getting through the GRE. Fun times, huh? I took that! Never want to take it again!
I LOVED Catching Fire. It set the standard for young adult novel adaptations. This is how you make a film!!! I might be in the minority, but I’m kind of glad Katniss’s internal dialogue was not included. I wasn’t crazy about her “Should I go for Gale?” or “No, it’s Peeta” back and forth in the book. She wasn’t this wishy-washy in The Hunger Games. I preferred the social message to be centerstage.
I don’t think you are in the minority at all. In fact, I’m glad the social message was center stage as well. I just wonder if I would have understood Katniss’s relationships with both boys if I hadn’t read the book. In the movie it felt slightly to me (slight SPOILER) that she was in love with Gale, but forced to pretend to love Peeta. While in the books I like that she’s like I like different things about both of you, but there’s no way I’m going to choose because that’s not what my life’s about right now. Definitely glad not to have the back and forth internal monologue though. If that makes sense.